


The Blackout

by flippyspoon



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, almost angst but then NAH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-07 22:15:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20473025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippyspoon/pseuds/flippyspoon
Summary: Steve worries about Billy during a blackout. Venice Beach Verse!





	The Blackout

**Author's Note:**

> Venice Beach Verse with Post-3 Billy. THANK YOU, LISSIE. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! <3  
Don't look for continuity in Venice Beach Verse, it does not exist.

July, 1990

Venice Beach

The summer had been brutal and that was on top of how summer was sometimes a little brutal for Billy to begin with, especially the fourth of July. Their apartment was near the beach so it didn’t run too hot but everyday they were both driving inland for work where the sun blazed hotter.

Billy was working at Tower Records (and hanging out at Guitar Center whenever he had the chance) and he worked shifts here and there bartending at a hip place on Sunset where the rockers liked to hang out. Steve had a dull as hell desk job downtown but half the time he spent scratching out figures on Post-Its, his head in the clouds. 

The record shop not a mile from their apartment was up for sale.

With his trust money, it wouldn’t be out of the question…

It was something they’d talked about now and then.

_What if we had our own record shop_?

Sometimes, Steve liked to pretend they already owned one. It was why he’d grown his hair so long and wore t-shirts with blazers to work. 

He leaned on his hand on his desk and tapped his Bic. 

They could do it.

They really could.

They had a sweet nest egg just sitting there…

Billy had been pretty quiet since the fourth of July, which was a lot better than the alternative. But the night before he’d been in a good mood. Steve had opened up Billy with his tongue (which at this point was more for fun than function) and then Steve had taken him apart in the sheets, the breeze blowing through the wide open window tasting like the sea as Billy cried out beneath Steve.

“So good for me, baby,” Steve had whispered into his skin. 

Then things had reverse as Steve clasped Billy’s hands in his and thrusted balls deep into his lover, looking down into those trust eyes. He’d felt like he would blow apart. Like all this love would just overpower him and blow him to smithereens.

“I love you,” Billy had whispered, knowing just when to give it back. He knew Steve well enough by now. “You take care of me...you’re so good to me…”

Afterwards, Steve cuddled up to Billy, the both of them naked on top of the covers. They’d talked about the record shop, murmuring their dreams as Steve feel asleep, holding Billy like a gigantic teddy bear.

The phone on Steve’s desk rang and he ignored it. He worked for a company that sold cash registers.

It was not exactly thrilling.

At six o’clock, Steve was off work and he left at 5:54. Traffic was always a pain in the ass. He was eager to get home to Billy. He felt like the words were bubbling up in his throat.

_Let’s do it. Let’s use my trust. Let’s open our own shop…_

At seven, Steve was finally driving into Venice Beach and the sun was setting, when abruptly all the lights went out. He didn’t notice it at first until he looked up and saw the street light a few cars ahead now going black. Steve blinked and looked along the streets, seeing people looking mildly distraught in the restaurant and shop windows. 

It looked like the power was out all over Venice and Steve’s first thought was that they’d have to eat all the stuff in the freezer, except that a lot of it was TV dinners and the microwave wouldn’t be working…

Then he remembered about Billy and blackouts.

“Oh _shit_.”

Billy didn’t do well in black outs. It had been a while since they’d experienced one. Not since Hawkins, Steve was pretty sure. It was all courtesy of the Mind Flayer, of course. Billy did _not_ like the dark. He’d attempted to hide the fact that he needed a night light when they’d first gotten together. He’d been so embarrassed. Steve didn’t think it was that big of a deal. On the list of things that could potentially bother Billy or send him into a panic, a night light seemed like small potatoes. It wasn’t as if he sometimes Steve didn’t think he heard the screech of a demogorgon every once in a while and flip out himself. 

The last time there’s been a blackout, Steve had found Billy curled up in his closet, trembling and crying, and sure that “the shadow” was going to get him again. He’d thought he was back at Brimborn Steel Works. 

“Shit goddammit,” Steve muttered.

The traffic was all confused because the streetlights were out. He’d be lucky not to get into an accident.

He was so close to home, yet so far away.

And all he could think about was getting to Billy. 

It was nearly eight by the time he got home and it was dark outside.

Steve’s heart was racing. He _hated_ seeing Billy upset. The two of them were so bonded now. When Billy got really panicked, Steve felt like he’d do just about anything to make him feel better. Usually all he had to do was sit with Billy and talk him through it. Other times, it was _him_ freaking out, usually because he was worried about their future but sometimes it was because of monster stuff. 

They took care of each other.

They’d become pretty good at it.

But it was July. They’d made it through the fourth with some brooding but nothing dramatic.

Billy would blame himself if he had a panic now. He’d make a big deal out of it. He got so ashamed of himself about that stuff no matter how much Steve assured him it wasn’t his fault.

Steve parked two blocks away and ran to the back entrance of their building, through the courtyard and up the outside stairs before fumbling with his keys. He was careful to close the door quietly. Loud noises would just make things worse if Billy was panicking. But Steve’s voice didn’t count as scary and Steve called out to him as he rammed into a table because the apartment was so damn dark already and space was cramped.

“Billy! Billy?”

“Out here!” Billy sounded...not panicked at all, and his voice was coming from their little balcony that faced out toward the beach. You could see, well, some of the ocean over some roofs. It wasn’t the most amazing view but the ocean was there and it made feel Steve and Billy feel like kings to sit on their balcony and sip beers and feel the breeze coming up from the water.

Steve took off his blazer and tossed it on the couch, running a hand through his now shoulder-length hair as he kicked off his shoes. 

He found Billy looking completely relaxed.

He was wearing only jeans, his bare feet crossed at the ankles and resting on the balcony railing. Billy had only recently become comfortable going shirtless more often and sometimes he was still self-conscious about his scars. But now Steve drank in all that glorious skin. The scars weren’t at all ugly to Steve like Billy had so feared. They were just part of his beautiful body that was now a little softer, though he still worked out a lot. He was just a bit fleshier than that broad, thick Billy Hargrove Steve had met in 1984 and Steve loved getting handfuls of that flesh in his palms whenever he got a chance. Steve liked Billy with some meat on him. It usually meant he was a little happier.

“You’re alright?” Steve said, sitting in the cheap patio chair next to Billy, who handed him a can of Bud Light. “With the black out?”

Billy had his boombox out on the dinky table in front of them where an ashtray lay next to a pack of Marlboro Reds and a couple more cans of beer.

“Yeah!” Billy grinned at him. “I mean I did flip out for a minute there but I breathed through it, I guess. I’m cool. Not so bad really. It’s nice out.”

Steve sighed in relief and popped his beer open, taking a sip. His chair was close enough to Billy’s that he could lean his head on Billy’s shoulder. “That’s great, babe.”

“How was your day?’ Billy said. He turned his head to kiss Steve’s hair.

Steve took a long drink of his beer and said, “I want to buy that record shop. For real. What do you think?” He glanced up at Billy. This, he felt, would determine everything. If he saw the slightest hesitation in Billy’s face, he would put this idea on the shelf until Billy was ready.

But Billy only nodded and said, “Me too. For real.” 

The next few hours, they spent on the balcony, even once the power came back on. They kissed and cozied up to each other and got buzzed and smoked as the evening wore on, and talked about the shop and how they would run it, the two of them wrapped up in their dreams and feeling as light as the ocean spray.


End file.
